Ag markets proved decidedly mixed Wednesday morning

Corn futures resumed their Tuesday slide Wednesday morning. The looming onset of the new crop harvest in extreme southern areas of the country may be weighing upon nearby corn futures this morning. Whatever the underlying cause, slippage in cash bids apparently weakened the yellow grain market in early trading. The fact that Tuesday’s weak close seemed to set the stage for a technical follow-through to the downside. September corn futures dropped 8.25 cents to $5.1425/bushel late Wednesday morning, while December slid 1.5 cents to $4.84.

Diving old crop prices sparked widespread soybean losses. The prospect of large new crop supplies apparently encouraged country buyers to drop their bids for soybeans and meal Wednesday morning. Old crop futures followed-through on the Tuesday plunge as a consequence. Asian palm oil weakness continued weighing upon the oil market as well. However, the new crop bean and meal contracts held up surprisingly well, possibly due to the preliminary comments about the Iowa crop outlook by Doane analysts on our annual crop tour. August soybean futures had bounced from limit-down levels around midsession and were trading 52.5 cents lower at $14.10/bushel at that time, while August soyoil dove 0.46 cents to 44.32 cents/pound, and August soymeal fell the daily $20.0 limit to $467.8/ton.

Wheat futures held up surprisingly well again Wednesday morning. Despite sizeable corn and soybean losses, the wheat markets were mixed to firm. Some might credit talk of Brazilian frost and Russian producer claims that their crop will fall short of recent forecasts, but we are more inclined to point to the looming end to the U.S. winter wheat harvest and substantially reduced hedging pressure from domestic farmers. September CBOT wheat gained 3.0 cents to $6.5675/bushel in early Wednesday action, while September KCBT wheat added 1.5 cents to $7.005 and September MGE futures climbed 4.25 cents to $7.4825.

Cattle futures rebounded from overnight losses Wednesday morning. Surprisingly large wholesale losses sent the CME cattle market lower Tuesday night. However, after opening weakly, Chicago prices rebounded rather substantially. That probably marked a reaction to news that fed cattle were trading steady at $119/cwt (cents/pound) this morning. Traders probably suspect prices will rise somewhat in other areas. August cattle bounced 0.22 cents to 122.12 cents/pound just before lunchtime Wednesday, while December added 0.32 cents to 128.92. August feeder futures gained 0.30 cents to 153.90 cents/pound, while November skidded 0.02 cents to 159.37.

Hog futures were mixed just before midday Wednesday. After vaulting upward Tuesday, the nearby August contract gave back a portion of the previous day’s gain. In contrast, the fall and winter contracts rose slightly, possibly in response to talk about the damage being done by the PEDV outbreak and/or to the large discounts to recent quotes for the CME lean hog index. August hog futures declined 0.57 cents to 98.60 cents/pound around midsession Wednesday, while December crept 0.17 cents higher to 83.15.